The Question
“Isn’t Telegram the app with all the scams?”
I get asked this. Every time I tell someone I build Telegram bots for a living, there’s a pause. A flicker of something — confusion, concern, sometimes just curiosity. The platform has a reputation, and it’s not entirely undeserved.
Let me address it directly.
What the Numbers Say
The criticism isn’t imaginary. Fraud originating from Telegram surged 233% according to Revolut’s financial crime report, making it the fastest-growing fraud source among messaging platforms. 58% of employment-related scams globally now originate on the platform. In August 2024, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France on charges related to the platform’s moderation failures.
These are real numbers about real problems.
What the Numbers Don’t Say
Here’s what the headlines usually leave out: every major communication platform has this problem.
Pew Research found that 68% of Americans receive scam phone calls weekly. 63% get scam emails. 61% get scam text messages. A third encounter scam messages on social media. The FBI reported $16.6 billion in losses from internet crime in 2024 — across all platforms, not just Telegram.
WhatsApp has fraud. Facebook Marketplace has fraud. Email has been a phishing vector since the ’90s. Phone networks have robocalls. The question isn’t whether crime exists on a platform. The question is whether the platform does something about it.
What Telegram Is Doing
Since Durov’s arrest, Telegram’s approach has shifted. The platform now shares user IP addresses and phone numbers with law enforcement on valid court orders — previously limited to terrorism cases only. Users can now report private chats. Telegram blocked over 10 million groups and channels in 2026 and removes 15–20 million accounts suspected of criminal activity per month.
Through its partnership with ETIDAL, Telegram has removed over 200 million pieces of terrorist content. The platform works with the Internet Watch Foundation, NCMEC, Europol, and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection on CSAM enforcement. Daily transparency reports have been published since 2016.
France lifted Durov’s travel ban in November 2025 after a year of cooperation with the investigation.
Is it enough? Probably not yet. But the direction is clear.
Why We Build Here
GlacierPhonk builds on Telegram because the development platform is the best in the messaging space. That’s not brand loyalty. It’s an engineering assessment.
The Bot API is the most capable, best-documented messaging API available. Rich keyboards, inline modes, webhooks, session management, file handling — everything you need to build production software, not just chatbots. Frameworks like grammY and python-telegram-bot have mature ecosystems with active communities.
Telegram Stars provide native in-app payments compliant with Apple and Google policies — no external payment processor, no 30% platform tax. Channels deliver content to unlimited subscribers without algorithmic filtering. Mini Apps run full web interfaces inside the chat. No app store approval process. No downloads. No friction.
Compare this to WhatsApp Business API (expensive, approval required, limited bot capabilities), Facebook Messenger (deprecated features, ongoing Meta policy churn), or Discord (gaming-focused, no native payments, no broadcast channels).
Telegram is the only messaging platform where a solo developer can build, deploy, and monetize a production application in a day.
What We Actually Build
We build wholesome things on this platform. FridgeKit helps families track groceries and cook from what they have. TillerDad shares Montessori parenting tips for fathers. WP Jobs surfaces WordPress job listings for people looking for work. WordPress Pulse aggregates ecosystem news for the WordPress community.
None of this is shady. None of it is a scam. It’s software built by someone who’s been writing code since the early ’90s, for people who have real problems.
TillerDad’s own landing page addresses the Telegram question directly: “Telegram is big and open, which means all kinds of people use it — including ones you wouldn’t invite to dinner. But that’s exactly why channels like this one matter. The more parents, teachers, and everyday people who show up, the better the platform gets.”
The Point
Open platforms will always attract bad actors. The internet itself is an open platform — and its answer to the “but there’s crime” objection has always been the same: build more good things on it.
Telegram’s one billion monthly active users aren’t all scammers. Most of them are parents, developers, journalists, hobbyists, business owners, and communities that chose a platform where their content reaches their audience directly. Without an algorithm. Without paying for reach. Without an intermediary deciding what’s worth seeing.
That’s why we build here.